However, as Wuling has always done, before the National Day, Wuling has already laid Capgemini's display cars in dealers all over the country, and even in the county-level markets around Chengdu, you can experience the real cars. However, after driving the official school to experience Wuling Capgemini statically, it is found that the prospect of this "new generation candidate car" with high hopes from Wuling may not be so optimistic, let alone continue the champion position of Baojun 730.
From the real car experience, Wuling Capgemini was not as big as expected at first. Although the length of the bus has reached 4.8 meters, and the size of the whole bus even exceeds the Odyssey, it is still the "compact MPV" in the exhibition hall, which is not necessarily larger than BYD Song MAX and Buick GL6, but obviously smaller than the seven-seat SUV model like Geely Hao Yue. The reason is that Wuling Capgemini adopts the long front cabin design used in European MPV, and the starting point of A-pillar is obviously far from the front axle, which makes the visual effect of the whole vehicle obviously small.
Wuling Capgemini adopts a long rear suspension design similar to Odyssey, which is convenient for the third row of seats to be completely stored in the trunk, which has become the biggest selling point of this car. From the actual experience, the hidden third row used by Wuling Capgemini does have more loading advantages than the original Baojun 730 and Xinbaojun RM-5, and it has huge storage space after upgrading the third row. If the third row is accommodated in the flat back space, it is really attractive.
In addition, Wuling Capgemini almost copied the Japanese and Korean MPV in the storage mechanism in the third row. Basically, it only takes two steps-pulling the rope to put down the seat and lifting the seat in the middle-to easily complete the storage. And the angle of the third row of seats is also adjustable in multiple gears, which is helpful for the comfort of the third row. Another detail is that the spare tire of Wuling Capgemini is set under the floor between the first row and the second row, which is still very careful.
However, the excellent hidden third row design can't cover up the shortcomings of insufficient space in Wuling Capgemini. You know, as an MPV model, Wuling Capgemini's essential competitiveness is to meet the comfortable domestic space and commercial manned demand.
Perhaps it is because the front cabin space is too large, the wheelbase is shorter than Odyssey 100mm, the third row hidden storage mechanism basically fixes the position of the third row of seats, and the spatial layout of the second row of Wuling Capgemini's entire front row is quite cramped. For a three-row MPV, on the premise of retaining four-finger space, the second row has already held its knees after sitting down.
Therefore, from the perspective of space experience, Wuling Capgemini can only say that it has done some articles on the third row of storage space, but at the expense of the compromise of the ride space, it may not have an advantage compared with Baojun 730. This also explains why Wuling's marketing team will put the core selling point of Wuling Capgemini on the "four big seats". After all, this car is really difficult to convince the public in the MPV field.
As for the strength of other products, Wuling Capgemini will not say much. For example, the 147 horsepower 1.5T engine is somewhat outdated at present. Nearly 65,438+10,000 automatic low-equipped models still only have double airbags, and the top-equipped models also lack L2 and in-vehicle interconnection systems. Even compared with the 7-seat models of first-line independent brands, there is no cost-effective advantage.
The marketing team of Wuling brand has been emphasizing that Capgemini's selling point is "big four seats", emphasizing the characteristics of the second row of independent seats, ultra-long slide rails, independent leg lifts and lateral movement. Not to mention the price of 1 1 ten thousand yuan for the model of the second row of multifunctional seats, just say? The concept of "big four seats" is meaningless to a Wuling MPV model.
There is a simple reason. If consumers really only need a four-seater, four-person daily trip, why don't consumers just buy a five-seater SUV? Starting from the daily needs, the five-seat model can cover all four-seat needs, and the space and functionality are also wider than those of the big four-seat MPV. For example, the six-seat design of Wuling Capgemini will make this family MPV look awkward when five people ride every day-one person must sit in the cramped third row, which not only offsets the advantages of the trunk, but also cannot provide the comfort of a five-seat car.
In addition, Wuling Capgemini has made another confusing decision besides the independent seats in the second row: the whole system adopts a 6-seat layout of 2+2+2, and does not provide a 7-seat layout of 2+3+2, which almost directly weakens the demand of the third row to a "temporary ride", which largely determines the limitations of the sales volume of this model.
In fact, although there are many six-seat versions of domestic compact MPV models, the products with real volume are mainly seven-seat models, especially those for the entry-level market. Most six-seat MPVs have never had a high presence in the market. A typical scenario is that a second-child family needs to raise the third row of seats when traveling. After two children occupy the second row, there must be an adult sitting in the back row, which greatly reduces the practicality of the space.
More importantly, Wuling Capgemini is "Wuling", but the layout of four-seat and six-seat cars is doomed to fail to meet the needs of Wuling consumer groups.
Although the MPV market increasingly emphasizes the setting of the second row of independent seats, in fact, the emergence of independent seats is a unique demand of a minority-to enhance the luxury of the second row and increase the convenience of the third row. But these products are mainly concentrated in the high-end market. Whether Buick GL8 or Odyssey, this high-end MPV is more concentrated in the business travel market, which is the space and necessity of the second row of independent seats.
The reason why Wuling Capgemini has attracted much attention is that this model has accepted the upgrade requirements of Wuling Hong Guang and Baojun 730 users who used to be "Shang Yi IKEA". Starting from the needs of this part of consumers, it can meet the needs of a big family. It is the best choice to load more goods on daily trips or as a short-distance operating vehicle. This is the "place of use" of Wuling. So, if we go back to the positioning of multi-person riding and IKEA, why do those Wuling base users not choose other brands of 7-seat medium-sized SUV models?
This year, a golden sentence in China automobile market is "Wuling will build whatever people need", but Wuling Capgemini has obviously deviated from this sentence. This time, Wuling Capgemini defined the concept of main sales as "Four Big", which was largely a "strategic mistake" in product planning, and further, it was the myth of the whole brand's upward strategy.
Personally, Wuling has planned a six-seat MPV focusing on household needs, but there is not enough space to sell products, so it can only focus on building the second row of seats, thus forming the concept of "big four-seat family car". With the concept of "big four seats", the household demand of first-and second-tier consumers is "set" on the demand of four seats, forming the rhetoric of "4+X family car", without considering why none of the previous six-seat family MPVs succeeded.
This concept-first approach obviously deviates from the foundation of the "Wuling" brand and does not really focus on the needs of users. If it is really according to the needs of users, then cancel the setting of the second row of independent seats and adopt the layout of 2+3+2, so as to realize more abundant riding modes without changing the hidden storage function of the third row of seats. And now the second row of independent seats also brings a problem, that is, the feet of the third row of passengers can not be placed under the second row, which further limits the seating space of the third row of passengers.
In fact, if you think about it a little more, you will find that the reason why Wuling Capgemini wants to build a "luxury second row" may be because this "high sense" can support its pricing of 65,438+10,000 yuan, and behind this, it is Wuling brand's ambition to complete the brand. The marketing director of Wuling brand once said that in the past investigation, they found that many users of Wuling in Hong Guang wanted to buy an advanced Wuling passenger car, which was the reason for introducing the more advanced Wuling Capgemini.
Therefore, many "fashionable" elements are used in Wuling Capgemini's communication materials: small villas in first-tier cities, well-dressed middle-class families, a family of three living in a house of 200 square meters, a daughter in primary school using a mobile phone and big-name headphones, and a car walking in a glamorous metropolis ... Although these are the same routines as other car brand advertisements, it is a huge deviation to put them on Wuling brand models.
Wuling once became the brand with the largest sales volume because the brand bears the real struggle of consumers and self-employed individuals in the fourth and fifth lines, rather than the imaginary scene in the advertisement. If people who have made money and left this class really have many joint venture brands to choose from, they will not choose Wuling brand for a long time.
However, it should be pointed out that ten years ago, self-employed small bosses used Wuling Hong Guang to pull people to deliver goods. Ten years later, they chose Wuling Capgemini, which is almost the same usage scenario. Buying a new car is not because they have money, nor because the demand scene has changed. It just means that they need a new car. At this time, the more comfortable Wuling model will give these self-employed people who are still running at the bottom a better experience.
For Wuling Capgemini, the most important thing before listing is to recognize the essence of Wuling brand: "more advanced Wuling" does not mean "more expensive Wuling", and the so-called advanced should be the improvement of vehicle quality, not just the improvement of product configuration.
Facing the current situation that the MPV market of 60,000-80,000 yuan is still dominated by old cars and new cars are scarce, Wuling Capgemini should think about how to adjust its configuration to meet the upgrading needs of the original Wuling Hong Guang and Baojun 730 groups, and make use of Wuling's huge basic users to make the market below 80,000 yuan more stable. As for the market of 65,438+10,000 yuan, SAIC-GM-Wuling should let Xinbaojun do it.
Text | |JackieLXX
Figure ||| Jackie lxx
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.